Typhoons Participate in Red Flag 2012

6/27/12: Eight Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft from German Air Force Jagdgeschwader 74 (JG 74) took part in a two week ‘Red Flag’ exercise in Alaska alongside American, Polish, Japanese and Australian air forces.

Eurofighter Typhoons were deployed from their home base in Neuburg, Southern Germany, to Eielson Air Force Base to participate in the internationally renowned exercise.

Some of the Eurofighters involved in the Red Flag 2012 exercise. Credit: Eurofighter

Red Flag, which lasted from 11th until June 22nd, provided an opportunity for the participating nations to gain invaluable experience in tactical missions, collective defence and conflict management. Fighter Wing JG 74 took part in the exercise in readiness for its assignment to the NATO reaction force this year, assuring the unit has the right level of interoperability and capabilities for such a role.

Marc Grüne, Lt. Col. of Fighter Wing 74, said: “The German Air Force’s decision to take part in exercise Red Flag – Alaska offered a great opportunity for Fighter Wing 74 to train, test and improve personal skills and aircraft capabilities. We wanted to see if the Eurofighter is capable of everything we think it is. And the aircraft is definitely capable. The challenging tasks and tough working days have brought the best out of everyone because of the spirit and passion of the people.”

The Blue force – of which the JG 74 Eurofighter Typhoons were part – included the full spectrum of U.S. and allied tactical and support units.

During the two-week employment phase of the exercise, the JG 74 Typhoons flew 98 of the planned 102 sorties. Aircrews were subjected to every conceivable combat threat. Scenarios were shaped to meet each exercise’s specific training objectives. Typically about 70-90 jets are flying at the same time in one of the two daily so called waves.

The exercise has a building block approach, where mission difficulty will increase to a point where up to about eighteen threat aircraft will present a highly capable, modern opponent.

The commander of Fighter Wing 74, Col. Andreas Pfeiffer, said of the exercise: “If you put all of the factors together, this is probably the highest quality training you could possibly get in modern air combat.”